Petting Zoo Rounds Out Week

Staff photo/Angie Klosterman: A group of Memorial High School FFA students display some of the animals featured in the group’s petting zoo on Friday. Front row: FFA Student Adviser Austin Zumbroegel, a junior at Memorial High School. Back row (left to right): FFA Secretary Hannah Wumer, a junior; FFA President Will Paulus, a senior; junior Chelsea Yahl; junior Taylor Young; FFA Sentinel Tyler Kovar, a junior; and junior Andrew Vondrell.

ST. MARYS — It has been an ag-filled week at St. Marys Memorial High School this week as a group of local students have been showcasing the agriculture community as part of an annual event.

This week was National FFA Week, and Memorial High School students had put on various activities to celebrate the week designated to bring light to agriculture.

Zumbroegel, a junior at Memorial High School, noted how the group came up with the schedule for FFA Week at the high school.

“We sort of decided it at one of our meetings,” He said. “Ideas were brought up, and we have some traditional stuff, so we went with it.”

Tuesday kicked off the dress-up themes, with students dressing in their flannels and cowboy boots, followed by camo day on Wednesday, tractor shirt day on Thursday and coverall day on Friday. Country music played during lunch all week. On Thursday, students also drove their tractors to school, and Thursday and Friday also featured the FFA’s annual petting zoo.

“The elementary kids came by yesterday, and they’re coming today,” Zumbroegel said of the petting zoo. “They’re all our animals — the FFA officers brought their own animals in.”

“We get to hang out with our animals our day, and then we get to tell the kindergartners about the animals and the background of the animals.”

FFA Secretary Hannah Wumer, a senior at Memorial High School, said she also likes the petting zoo day.

“I like the petting zoo day the best because we get out of class,” she said.

A variety of animals — in addition to a tractor — took over the VoAg classroom on Thursday and Friday: Baby goats named Noah and Jack Sophie, a steer named Gus, two calves, a pot-bellied pig, a dog named Nala, hens, a rooster and rabbits.

Junior Chelsea Yahl noted FFA week also included treats for the school’s teachers.

“We had the teacher appreciation breakfast this morning,” she said, noting they provided the teachers with a breakfast of sausage links, French toast, cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, milk and juice. “Tuesday we had doughnuts, and Wednesday we had pie.”

Zumbroegel said they like to enjoy the food for their teachers.

“To show our appreciation for them because if we didn’t have an education, we’d be nowhere in life,” he said.